


Cave Johnson Lassos the Moon

by FuchsiaMae



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 16:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9770831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuchsiaMae/pseuds/FuchsiaMae
Summary: It's been a long, hard twenty years. Cave wants to reward his assistant with something special. Happy Valentine's Day.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The title, of course, is a reference to "It's a Wonderful Life"

She looked so tired these days. Still a hard worker – reliable as ever, his Caroline – but he saw it in the worry lines etched on her face. Heard it in the weary sighs that escaped her when looking at the numbers. Felt it in the way she squeezed his hand and said, “Don’t worry, sir, we’re fine,” with a smile that was hollow where it hadn’t been before. 

“Sure, kid,” he’d replied, and returned that empty smile. “You keep at it. I’ll be with you in a sec.”  


“Yes sir.”  


Now he watched her at her desk from the open doorway. Absorbed by the papers in front of her, she hadn’t noticed him return. A tiny frown nested between her eyebrows – ever-present these days, even while she slept. She set her pen down for a second, sighed again, and dabbed carefully at her eyes so her makeup wouldn’t smear.

She only cried at night, silently, when she thought he was asleep – but he felt her hitching breaths, and he knew. 

Every day he saw her grit her teeth against anger and hopelessness. Always steadfast, always brave. Always ready with a comforting lie when he needed it. She lied so well he could let himself believe her. 

“How’s it coming?”  


Her head snapped up, and her smile snapped back into place. “Just fine, sir.”

He looked her in the eye. “Caroline, I don’t have time to bullshit.”

Another heavy sigh, perhaps this time in relief. She let her face slip just enough to see the strain behind it. “I can’t find a way around this, sir. We need sixty new test subjects per week,  _minimum_ , and I don’t know where to get them. We’ve tapped every orphanage and shelter in the UP.” Helpless frustration darkened her eyes. “If we can’t bring in these numbers, we’ll have to close Delta Bohr.”

“So we get the numbers.”

“How?”

“We’ll get ‘em.”

“That’s not an answer, sir.”

He looked at her, the weary workhorse, and felt a pang of… something. “Look, Caroline, you take a break, okay? I’ll finish this.”

“Excuse me?” She looked insulted.

“Go… take a rest, or something. Lie down in my office. I’ll come get you in ten.”

She looked about to talk back, but something stopped her. That cool, robotic smile settled back in place, just missing her eyes. “Whatever you say, Mr. Johnson.” As she stepped into his office and closed the door, Cave couldn’t help but feel like he’d done something wrong.

Whatever. She could use the break. She only lay down these days to sleep, and lord knows she didn’t sleep well. He sat at her desk, his eyes scanning the paperwork, but he absorbed nothing. 

She’d lost faith. That was it. That bright joy that drew him to her in the first place, snuffed out. She still worked harder than hell, but she’d lost faith in all the things she fought to preserve – in Aperture. In him. 

Damn, that hurt. But damn, he deserved it. 

It felt like yesterday he promised her the moon, and twenty years later, he hadn’t delivered. All he brought her was work and more work. She worked so hard for him, and she was so, so tired.

She deserved so much better than this. She deserved the moon.

 _Huh. Now_ there’s  _an idea_ …

A nice big gesture, he was good at those. Something useful – they could run a whole mess of tests on it, she’d love that. Something science-y as all hell.

 _Yeah. You want the moon? I’ll bring you the moon_. 

He almost called her in to get their guy at NASA on the phone, but stopped just in time. This should be a surprise. He pulled out the Rolodex and looked up the number himself.

“Hey, yeah, Pearson? It’s Cave. What can you tell me about moon rocks?”


End file.
